Spatial and Temporal Variability of Water Quality in Korean Dam Reservoirs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate spatial and temporal variability of water quality in 10 reservoirs and identify the key nutrients (N, P) influencing chlorophyll-a (CHL) along with analysis of empirical models and zonal patterns of total phosphorus (TP) and CHL. We analyzed total nitrogen (TN), TP, CHL, water clarity (Secchi depth, SD), and evaluated potential limiting nutrient using ambient N:P ratios and previous criteria of ambient nutrients. Water clarity and CHL varied largely depending on the seasonal monsoon and type of reservoir, but trophic state was diagnosed as eutrophy, base on mean CHL in most reservoirs. The peak of TP did not match the contents of CHL due to rapid flushing during the high run-off period. In the reservoir of DR, regression coefficient in the $P_r$ was 0.510 but was 0.159 in the $M_o$, while the TP-CHL relation in the YR increased during the monsoon compared to the premonsoon. The regression coefficient in the $P_r$ was not statistically significant but the value of $M_o$ was 0.250. TP showed similar longitudinal zonal gradients among the reservoirs of DR, YR and JR. Empirical models of TP-CHL, based on overall data, showed that CHL was determined by phosphorus($R^2=0.244$, p=0.0019). Regression analysis of CHL-SD showed a stronger linear fit ($R^2=0.638$, p<0.001) than the TP-CHL model.